Proverbs 10:2 - Meaning and Application

These two verses say much the same thing, and the second may explain the first. Wealth that people gain in an unjust way will do them no good, because God will ruin it. “Treasures of wickedness” profit nothing (Proverbs 10:2). This includes riches gained by oppression or fraud. Even if the treasure is large, and even if it is hidden safely away, it still cannot help in the end. When profit and loss are weighed, the gain from such treasures cannot make up for the loss caused by the sin behind them (Matthew 16:26).

Such wealth does not help the soul. It cannot buy true comfort or lasting happiness. It will be useless at death and on the day of judgment. The reason is that God rejects the possessions of the wicked, as Proverbs 10:3 says. He can take away what people got by wrong means, and he does not show favor just because someone is rich. We often see God scatter what people gathered by injustice. How can treasures of wickedness profit, when God treats them as nothing and they vanish like a shadow?

By contrast, what is honestly gained will serve a good purpose, because God blesses it. “Righteousness delivers from death” (Proverbs 10:2). Here righteousness means both honest dealing and generous care for others. Such wealth serves the true purpose of riches, which is to support life and give protection. It can deliver from troubles that people bring on themselves by sin.

This does not mean it keeps a person from dying at all, but it can keep death from having its full terror. The Lord will not let the soul of the righteous go hungry (Proverbs 10:3). So their righteousness delivers from death through God’s favor, which is their life and support. God’s word and their faith in his promise will keep them alive, even when young lions lack food and suffer hunger.